


Trifles with gals who carry rifles

by robotwitch



Series: Once more for the ages [6]
Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Unconventional Dates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:27:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24155845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robotwitch/pseuds/robotwitch
Summary: Guns are not just like cameras, much to Elena's frustration.
Relationships: Nathan Drake/Elena Fisher
Series: Once more for the ages [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1289426
Comments: 6
Kudos: 27





	Trifles with gals who carry rifles

From the moment Nate handed her the gun, Elena was ready to give it back. She barely even fired it before the boat went up in smoke.

Deciding to track those good-for-nothing bastards down in the middle of the jungle, Elena isn’t about to follow them without taking extra precautions. The dealer’s about as reputable as Drake and Sullivan, but the gun looks similar enough to the loaner, Elena’s willing to give it a shot.

Deep in the forest, Elena is very much aware of how alone she is, her hand hovers over the handle at the snap of a twig.

Heart pounding, she realizes how ridiculous she must look. How stupid she must’ve sounded, comparing the gun to a camera.

“ _You just point and shoot_ ,” she mimics herself. Except one of them can’t seriously maim or injure others when aimed at someone. She shudders at the thought she could kill someone with the weapon in her back pocket.

But these aren’t the streets of Florida; pepper spray won’t be enough to ward off whatever awaits her among the trees.

The further Elena follows the trail, the thicker the air becomes. Elena’s starting to doubt she’s heading in the right direction when gunshots echo through the trees.

Given what happened to the boat, Elena can think of only one explanation for it now. Wherever there’s trouble, Nathan Drake’s bound to be in the middle of it.

\----------

Not that she’s in a hurry to kick Nate out of bed but letting him linger feels strange now they’re back in the real world.

The real world has rules and expectations that didn’t exist while they were finishing filming for the show. They could _be_ together without _being_ together. She sighs, missing the simplicity of it all.

Much as Elena would like to stay put, the real world is calling, and she has too much to do today to waste the morning in bed.

Nate sprawls out across the mattress as she gets up; Elena rolls her eyes.

After a shower, Elena’s wake enough to be ashamed of the state of her apartment. It was fine when they stumbled into bed through the dark, but in the harsh light of day, it looks as though a hurricane blew through.

With another sigh, Elena starts picking up the discarded clothes from the previous night. In the tangled mess of Nate’s jeans and belt, she finds something heavy and cold. For a moment, she thinks it’s his belt buckle, but as the legs unroll a gun falls into Elena’s hand.

She blinks at the weapon. She hadn’t noticed him carrying it on his person last night, but so far as she thought, Nate doesn’t usually carry guns in his normal life.

Then again, she supposes this is the vacation from _his_ normal life.

While Elena got amazingly comfortable carrying a gun extremely fast, it’s not something she’s used to seeing in her day-to-day.

She tells herself he must have been in a hurry to come see her if he didn’t think to leave the gun at his apartment first. It’s hard to be judgmental about him carrying a gun around when carrying one very much saved her life back on the Spanish colony.

Still, it’s strange to hold one again in _her_ normal life.

Nate stirs, rubbing his eyes as he sits up.

Elena doesn’t even try to hide the gun.

Taking notice, “If you wanted me gone that badly, you could’ve just woken me up, but you wouldn’t be the first woman to use a gun to get me out of bed.”

“Huh? Oh. Right. Probably would be more effective if I pointed it at you, wouldn’t it?”

“Usually,” he chuckles tenuously. “Should I…?”

“Should you what?”

“Go?”

“Oh.”

Elena chews her lip. There’s plenty of things she should do today; cleaning, getting a jump start on prep work for the show, calling mom and dad. But Elena would much rather stay here with Nate.

With Nate, it’s like the real world doesn’t matter and the crushing weight of responsibility just seems to slide right off. Just the thrill and excitement of adventure. Besides, there’s nothing she absolutely _has_ to do today she can’t do tomorrow.

“No. You don’t have to go. I actually had an idea for something we could try.”

Nate raises his brow, ready to draw her back into bed.

It flusters Elena, and though more sex is not a bad idea, it’s not what she has in mind.

“How about you actually teach me how to use this,” she holds the gun out.

“You got the hang of the basics pretty quick. There’s not much more you need to know.”

“Says the man who can hit a moving target a hundred yards away.”

Elena can’t help but notice the slip of a grin flicker across his face as he tries to be modest, “That just comes with a sharp eye and a steady hand.”

Her stomach does a little flip. She should just pin him to the bed and keep him here, but her stubborn side has been challenged.

“I’d settle for not being blown backward every time. So what do you say – take me to the shooting range, give me a few pointers.”

His face twists inscrutably.

“What is it?”

“This is starting to sound dangerously close to a date, Elena.”

Elena scoffs, but her stomach does another turn.

They agreed they weren’t dating. Sex and the occasional drink don’t count as dating. If there’s a line marking the boundary into dating territory, Elena doesn’t think one trip to the gun range will push them over the edge.

Shaking her head, “This is purely for self-defense purposes. What is I stumble into another treasure hunting contest on my next shoot? I should be able to protect myself, shouldn’t I?”

Nate’s cocky grin returns. “You make a good point. I think I might know just the place to go.”

It’s par for the course the range Nate takes her to doesn’t ask to see licenses. But at least they provide proper protective gear. Elena chuckles at Nate in his sound dampening headset to which he rolls his eyes.

An instructor walks Elena through the safety procedures before allowing them to step up to the rail to shoot.

“You could’ve included switching the safety on and off in your crash course,” Elena ribs Nate.

Grinning like an asshole, he shouts, “What? I can’t hear you!”

Elena shakes her head, though he still manages to do the gentlemanly thing and let her step up to the rail to shoot first.

Testing the weight of the pistol in hand, Elena doesn’t feel quite so confident. She doesn’t have beginner’s luck anymore and, unlike on the island, now she has Nate’s undivided attention.

Determined to prove she learned something from her first experience with guns, Elena takes aim and fires. Between the crack of the shot and the recoil of the pistol, Elena jumps practically five feet in the air. Though muffled by the headgear, Nate’s laughter is loud.

Regaining her footing, Elena squeezes the trigger again. She doesn’t leap at the sound again but shuts her eyes and flinches violently with every shot until the magazine is empty.

She peeks at the target – not a single hit.

“It’s a miracle we made it off the island with you covering our backs.”

“I’m sure there several Indonesian pirates who would beg to differ.”

“Just not the ones you were aiming for.”

Elena huffs. She asked Nate to bring her here so she could learn a thing or two about gun handling, not so he could rub in how inexperienced she is.

Still smirking, Nate reaches for the pistol. Reloading it, “And the first thing each of them would’ve told you is: keep your eye on the target.”

He holds the gun out to her.

“Eye on the target. Got it.”

Elena takes the gun in hand, but Nate doesn’t quite let go, firming up her grip.

“Secondly,” Nate steps back her, his fingers trailing up her arms to her shoulders, “you’ve got to strengthen your stance, or you’ll be blown backward every time.”

Elena’s grown familiar with Nate’s touch, but something’s different about this. Her bare skin prickles beneath the slow and deliberate adjustments to her posture.

God, if she had known this was going to be this intimate, she would’ve worn more than a tank top, despite the heat. As it is, Elena’s torn between trying to listen to his pointers and taking him back to bed.

Sensing her tenseness, “Just relax. Remember to breathe.”

Her mouth is completely dry, “Okay.”

“Ready?”

She’s not, but Elena nods.

“Fire away.”

Nate lets go as Elena pulls the trigger. She flinches again, her eyes squeezing shut with each blast, but keeps her footing.

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Nate whoops.

Unclenching her eyes, Elena peers are the target and gapes. “Oh my god.”

She _actually_ hit it! Her shot was a little wide, but who cares! She did it!

“See? You’re not completely hopeless with a gun! You’ve just gotta keep your dominant eye open.”

“Shut up,” Elena rolls her eyes, still pleased with herself. “Show me how to do that again.”

Tantalizing as Nate’s hands-on instructions are, Elena is more attentive given the tangible results. Her focus is almost fully restored by the next round, setting up her shots all on her with just a few corrections.

She’s even starting to be impressed with herself, until Nate steps up to the rail for a turn, calling each of his shots.

“Show off.” Elena leans on his shoulder, examining the freshly bullet-riddled target.

“You’ll get there. You just need a little more practice.”

Elena suspects she needs far more than ‘a little’ practice to reach his level, but she’ll settle for basic competence.

“So, ready to try something a little more heavy-duty, or do you want to work a little more with this little guy?”

Beyond knowing Nate, there’s very little reason Elena can think of she’d need to know how to fire a gun. She sticks to the pistol, as Nate checks in with the proprietor for some sort of rifle.

They stay for a few more rounds before anyone else shows up at the range; Elena even bucks up the courage to get her hands on the rifle, but Nate can’t let go of her shoulders lest she be completely blown off her feet.

Getting back in the car, “So? How was that for your first real lesson?”

Elena groans. Her arms feel like rubber, exhausted from bracing herself against the recoil. It’s not nearly as easy as Nate makes it look. Then again, Elena hugely oversimplified operating a camera too.

“Far more comprehensive than the crash course. Where did you pick all that up anyway?”

“Here and there – Sully mostly. He’s ex-navy, you know.”

“That explains a lot.” Frankly, more questions than Elena realized she had about Nate’s partner in crime.

“Feeling up to joining us on another job yet?” Nate grins.

They continue to joke and tease about ‘next time’, but the only ‘next time’ Elena’s interested in now involves Nate and her bed and getting out of the rest of these clothes.

\----------

Gun licensing in Florida is a simple process. Probably too simple, and definitely way too lax in terms of backgrounds checks.

Strangely, Elena felt safer with improper training than she does now with a license, but at least she can legally own a gun to bring with her to Georgia.

Jeff gives it a sideways glance when she takes it out of her suitcase.

“I’m not taking any chances out here.”

“It’s not that. Just didn’t take you for a gun-toting sort of woman.”

“Oh,” Elena supposes she doesn’t naturally give off that impression, but she’s been practicing.

She’s nowhere near Nate’s skill, but she can consistently hit a target and her arms don’t turn to jell-o after a few rounds. She doesn’t flinch as badly as she used to either.

Jeff’s not looking at her with much confidence though. Probably assumes she just picked one up on a whim.

“My ex –” she winces at the term; she and Nate were never together, so they can’t exactly be exes, but it’s easier than explaining the circumstances to Jeff. “My ex taught me how to use it.”

Jeff snorts.

“What?”

“Didn’t take you for the sort to date men who play with guns either.”

“You’d understand if you saw his abs.”

Jeff hums to himself imaginatively, but still isn’t buying her story.

Elena can’t believe she’s going to say it, but what better way to explain it, “It’s just like a camera, you just point and shoot.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I'm back! And three games deep into an Uncharted replay! Just something short and sweet to get back in the swing of writing.
> 
> Just a quick disclaimer: I know next to nothing about guns, so please be kind. I mostly wanted to write the Uncharted version of the scene from the West Wing where CJ tries shooting a gun and falls over, while Mark Harmon deadpan makes fun of her for it.


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